Oct. 17, 2007 - The Government To The Rescue

You may or may not know this, but if you should happen to lose your home for any reason and you come up short of what you owe your lender, you will be taxed on the amount of the debt that was forgiven. You can go over that sentence again if you wish, but you read it right the first time. The current tax code is written as such that if a lender forgives a portion of your mortgage debt they have to supply the IRS with a Form 1099 telling the tax man how much they let you off the hook for.

Believe you me, in these trying times there are plenty of people in trouble. The news media is talking about it every day. Adjustable rate mortgages resetting, homes mortgaged to the hilt with equity loans and lines of credit, one hundred percent financing with interest only loans that can't be refinanced due to property value fluctuations and on and on and on. To people in these situation, this "Phantom Tax" is a real slap in the face.

These situations came about in several ways. Some of it was every day bad occurrences like job loss, divorce, illness, etc. Some of it was bad guidance from bad Real Estate Agents. Some of it was fast talking mumbo jumbo from get it done at any cost lenders. Mostly it was just financially under educated people who wanted what they wanted and they wanted it now. Damn the torpedoes.

I regress, however, because what I am really talking about here is The Mortgage Cancellation Tax Relief Act, H. R. 3648. This piece of legislation will effectively wipe out the "Phantom Tax". That's a good thing too, because a person who couldn't pay their mortgage and just got their lenders hooks out of them sure doesn't need the IRS replacing their burden.

So if you or someone near and dear to you is staring into the face of foreclosure I suggest you cozy on up to your elected officials and remind them to get H. R. 3648 onto the Presidents desk for his signature so that the "Phantom Tax" will disappear from the IRS Tax Code. Then call a good, reputable REALTOR® (not the one who gave you bad advice in the first place) and get this thing nipped in the bud.

Jul. 23, 2007 - The Anatomy Of A Listing

If you know me personally, or if you are a faithful reader of my blog, you know that I am an Associate Broker working with Charles Rutenberg Realty of Illinois.  You also know that I am a lone wolf who prefers to micro-manage my own work product.  That's why if you are buying or selling real property I am one of the finest REALTORS® you could hope to hire.  I realize that might sound kind of egotistical but hey, facts are facts.

When I take a new listing there is no turning it over to the over worked girls in the office.  They get to file the paperwork, of course, but I do my own marketing.  That's all part of the real estate lifestyle as far as I am concerned.  Sure I could use a virtual assistant to put the listing out there, but I ENJOY doing it myself.

Let's take a look at 7914 Kingsbury Drive, in Hanover Park.  That's my newest listing.  Immediately after the sellers and I signed the listing agreement we put the sign in front of the house.  Sure I could call a sign post company and wait a couple of days for the sign to go up, but that would waste a precious couple of selling days, keeping the listing a secret from the rest of the neighborhood.  Besides, with my sellers input, I am absolutely sure that they are happy with the location and alignment of the sign.  It's my listing, but it's their home and we both need to be proud of the way it looks.

Since it was still light out when I arrived at the house, I took the outside photograph.  That way I was able to input the listing into the MLS when I got home at 9:00 that night.  I didn't take the inside pictures until the next day because I wanted daylight shining through the windows.  Once I had those, I was able to add them to the MLS and put up the listings on my web sites, feeding then to all the gazillion other sites they end up on like yahoo, msn, craigslist, realtor.com, etc. etc.

Once I was sure the house was REALLY on the market, I crafted the virtual tour.  Again, I could call a virtual tour company and wait a few days for the photographer to show up and a few more days for the tour to be posted but, but why waste marketing time?  Once I put the tour together I link it all over the place.  I have branded and unbranded versions I can use, depending on the rules.  For instance, for the MLS and IDX situations I have to use the unbranded version.  Everywhere else I get to market Charles Rutenberg Realty and myself.  That makes my ego happy.

On this particular listing I am hosting a Brokers Open tomorrow, July 24th, from 11:00 AM until 2:00 PM.  The biggest problem I will have here will be where the heck will I find a pizza place that can have pizza's ready by 11:00 AM.  I will work that out today, along with recording my Talking House broadcast.  In case you are not aware of what that is, it's a radio transmitter that I put in the home with whatever details I want the drive by public to know about the house.  They can tune in to the AM frequency I have posted on the sign and listen to me tell them about the price and the homes features.  I also direct them to my web site, where they can print out a brouchure if they need one.  That way I don't have to worry about keeping a brouchure box full or replenishing it with dry copies every time it rains.

You should also know that when someone calls the number on the sign, they will be connected to me so that they are dealing directly with the person they need to talk to regarding my listings.  The number on the sign is my virtual office number.  That's another bit of technology that allows me to be on top things and "mind my own business".  It captures the number of everyone that calls it, so even if I miss the call and they do not leave a message, I can still contact them.  Some people who call on listed properties are shy when it comes to leaving messages, but are really glad that you called them back anyway.  It's an EasyTel system and everyone who does any kind of business should have one.  My contact in that regard is David Byrd.  If you e-mail him for information on your own set of virtual office phone numbers, tell him Gene Molloy sent you. 

As always, if you have found yourself receiving my blog postings via e-mail, it is because I have either blogged about you personally, blogged about something I know is of interest to you, or I consider you to be a person of deep thinking and intellect and I would love to have you occasionally commenting on my blog. If you would like to be removed from the list simply send me an e-mail saying so.

Jun. 14, 2007 - Now Is The Time To Relax

Whew........it's a rough market out there.  In my little corner of the world inventory is way up.  The laws of supply and demand have certainly put some pressure on the sellers.  It's almost like Wal-Mart has entered the real estate market and rolled back prices to 2005.  It's not as if things are not selling at all though.  They are.

If you have only been in your house for a few years and there is really no pressing reason to move, then I would suggest staying out of the fray for right now.  But if you really want to move and you are a seller in todays market you need to relax and let your professional do their job.  Listen to them when they give you an honest evaluation of what the market is like.  Putting a property out there now at 10, 15, 20% more than what is moving off of the market at this time would be a tragic mistake.

If you have been in your house for more years than you can remember then you will probably be pretty thrilled with the price your house will fetch.  When it comes time to buy the replacement home you just have to remember that the days of the $100,000, three bedroom home are long gone.  You will be in a much better position to negotiate as a buyer with a fresh influx of cash, but they still are not giving homes away just yet.

Whatever your particular case may be, if you are a seller in todays market you need to be relaxed.  Just because someone looked at your place twice doesn't mean they are going to make an offer. Hopefully they will but............  Whatever you do, try not to appear too eager to potential buyers.  Put on your poker face and relax so as not to give the prospect any reason to think they would not be insulting you by a 20% under value, low ball offer.  If you have an excellent REALTOR®, you know, one like me, then just trust them and let them do their thing.

As always, if you have found yourself receiving my blog postings via e-mail, it is because I have either blogged about you personally, blogged about something I know is of interest to you, or I consider you to be a person of deep thinking and intellect and I would love to have you occasionally commenting on my blog. If you would like to be removed from the list simply send me an e-mail saying so.

Apr. 24, 2007 - I Assume That Maybe............

Have I told you that I have stumbled upon a message board that is populated by mostly home buyers and sellers?  Yes indeed, a forum for people who like to talk about real estate.  A place where the blind lead the blind.  They talk about the succeesses and failures of real estate deals, likes and dislikes, the value of hardwood as opposed to carpet, ceramic (sometimes refered to as porcelin) tile as opposed to vinyl (in many various spellings), etc. etc.

It virtually puts me in front of more buyers and sellers in a day then I would ever speak to in a month.  I usually don't know where they are located because it's a pretty anonymous kind of place.  I am not really there trolling for business, although I could use some right about now.  I am, however, getting quite the education as to what is in the minds of these folks as it relates to real estate industry professionals.

One thing that is jumping off the screen at me is how often these people use terms like "I believe it cost....", "I think the contract said....", "I assume it's in the contract that....", "maybe that is covered by....". 

Now I don't know about you, but I start out reading, word for word, any document that I will be asking a client of mine to sign.  If that bores them and they want to sign before it's all read to them then I strongly advise them to read the entire documentation at a more convenient time, but do read them.  Whenever they have a question later on, I pull out my copy of documents and we review the section, or sections, in question.  Obviously not every agent, home inspector, loan officer and attorney takes the time.  I had a small inkling of that from my own business relationships but man, it seems to be running rampant throughout the land.

I am no longer amazed by the number of agent haters and FSBOs that there are out there.  It's a very sad commentary on the state of the real estate industry when people are saying that the only thing the real estate professionals care about in a deal is getting to the closing table and collecting their unearned monies.  The sadder thing is that when you have represented consumers running around saying things like "I guess I assume that it might say maybe", the commentary is pretty dead bang on target.

I get a bit of satisfaction from answering some of these posters questions.  I do so in a kind and thoughtful manner.  It's good I get the satisfaction, too, because I am giving them something and asking for nothing.  There is no closing table for me.  The pay off for me is that maybe I can prove to some anonymous poster somewhere in cyberspace that not all real estate professionals are created equal.  Some of us care about how real estate is practiced just because we love the real estate life.  I suppose it's my way of trying to improve the publics perception of us, one post at a time.

As always, if you have found yourself receiving my blog postings via e-mail, it is because I have either blogged about you personally, blogged about something I know is of interest to you, or I consider you to be a person of deep thinking and intellect and I would love to have you occasionally commenting on my blog. If you would like to be removed from the list simply send me an e-mail saying so.

Mar. 26, 2007 - Let's Not Get Cheap

Time and time again potential sellers ask the same question, "What can we do to get the best possible price ?".  Time and time again I make the same suggestions.  Chances are you will hear me telling someone that modernized water rooms, ie, bathrooms, kitchens and laundry rooms, will give you the most return on your investment.  I will especially be telling that to someone who has a mildew farm growing in their circa 1980's bathroom.  Lately I have had to go out of my way to explain that I cannot list the house as having a remodeled bathroom just because they installed a white tub liner on their avocado bath tub and glued a three piece tub surround over the moldy plastic tiles.

Nothing screams cheap, do-it-yourself, like a glue on tub surround.  And the thing that amazes me the most is that there are "remodeling companies" that seem to be specializing in such things.  As far as I can tell, and I know someone will correct me if I'm wrong, these cheap fiberglass aberrations first showed up in trailer homes and "luxury" campers.  They may well be acceptable to buyers of these types of things, but they sure do make a fixed to the Terra firma house hard to sell for top dollar.  Especially in today's buyers market.  There is inventory galore out there, and chances are pretty good that you can acquire a home with a nicely remodeled bathroom for a pretty reasonable price.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that you can't sell your house if you put a tub surround in your bathroom.  You should simply expect to get less than top dollar.  And I would also caution you about listing it as having a remodeled bathroom.  Unless of course you can find white liners for that avocado toilet bowl and sink.    

As always, if you have found yourself receiving my blog postings via e-mail, it is because I have either blogged about you personally, blogged about something I know is of interest to you, or I consider you to be a person of deep thinking and intellect and I would love to have you occasionally commenting on my blog. If you would like to be removed from the list simply send me an e-mail saying so.

Sep. 12, 2006 - Seller Beware

It's pretty much a fact of real estate life. When you put your house on the market you are going to have a number of people traipsing through it. Your REALTOR® will tell you that the more eyes you get looking at your property, the better your chances of getting the best price. You will also be told that when your house hits the MLS every REALTOR® in the area (in some areas that's thousands) will see it and call their buyer clients to see if they would be interested in seeing your house. The flat fee listers and other paid "by owner" helpers will tell you that your phone should begin ringing off the wall with potential buyers wanting to make appointments. Those of you who are determined to go it alone with a newspaper ad and a for sale by owner sign will be hoping for the same thing.

How ever you decide to market your house, you need to keep one important fact in mind. The only people you need to have walking through your house are people who are actually qualified to purchase your house. The only people you want to have walking through your house are people who are actually qualified to purchase your house.

Why is that? Don't you think that maybe someone who is not actually qualified to purchase my house might have some friends or relatives that might like it? Didn't you say that the more eyes that see it, the better my chances?

Well no, I didn't say that. I said your REALTOR® might say that. If I was your REALTOR®, I would tell you that the more qualified eyes that see your house, the better your chances. I only want buyers who have been qualified going through your house because I want to protect you, your family, your personal property, etc. There are scam artists out there. There are thieves and scoundrels who use real estate listings and unsuspecting real estate agents to gain legal entry to houses and then work their skulduggery. Perhaps they will filch that gold ring  you left laying out in the open. Maybe they will notice that the basement window does not lock tight and they will return another day to cart off your plasma TV. Don't think for a minute that this doesn't happen everyday. Maybe not lately on your block or in your city/town/village, but somewhere, sometime, everyday it happens to someone.

That is why, no matter how you decide to market your property, you need to make sure that there are safeguards in place to prevent this from happening to you. I may be biased, but I believe that using an experienced REALTOR®, like myself, is the safest way to go. That is because I, and others like me, would always prequalify buyer clients before they ever set foot in your, or anyone else's, house. When another agent calls for a showing appointment, the experienced agent will always determine whether or not the showing agent has prequalified his or her buyer client. Believe me when I tell you that not every person in possession of a real estate license prequalifies their clients. Taking prequalification for granted can be a costly mistake.

Should you decide that the cost of the commission to a good, prequalifying type of agent just isn't worth it, and you decide to use a flat fee lister or a buy owner helper or just do it all by yourself, I don't know what to tell you. I guess you'll just have to ask each and every caller if they have spoken to a lender. If they say they have, then I suppose it would be a good idea to find out who they spoke to and if they have some documentation to back it up. It probably wouldn't hurt to get in contact with whoever they said they spoke to and verify the fact that the contact person has indeed at least heard of the prospect. I realize it seems like a lot of hassle but it's better to be safe than sorry. You know how it is with scam artists, they love to prey upon the unsuspecting and the unprotected.

As always, if you have found yourself receiving my blog postings via e-mail, it is because I have either blogged about you personally, blogged about something I know is of interest to you, or I consider you to be a person of deep thinking and intellect and I would love to have you occasionally commenting on my blog. If you would like to be removed from the list simply send me an e-mail saying so.

May. 11, 2006 - Why Buy A Home Warranty

As you are driving around checking out your prospective new neighborhood you notice some homes with a sign rider that states that this home is covered by a home warranty. If it was one of my listings the rider would state that the home was covered by a 13 month HWA home warranty. You look at your significant other and ask "What the heck is a home warranty?". I realize you asked your significant other, who may or may not know, but allow me to clarify that for you.

A home warranty is peace of mind. It's risk management of sorts. Putting a home warranty on your house as a seller gives you peace of mind knowing that if a covered appliance or mechanical system breaks down during the time the house is on the market, it will be repaired or replaced, quickly and professionally, for a relatively small deductible or service charge. What could easily have been a major expense, turns out to be a minor inconvenience. For the buyer it's peace of mind knowing that the older mechanical systems and all of those used appliances that you bought with the home are covered for at least one year from your closing date (13 months on one of my deals remember, I recommend the 13 month HWA home warranty).

There are various levels of coverage available and the price and the deductible (out of pocket expense) vary according to coverage. With the top of the line coverage, practically everything in the home is covered and the out of pocket expense is $100. That's not bad considering that your average service call will cost you $75 just to have the service man show up. And that's before they pile on parts and labor.

There is more that can be said about the wonders of a home warranty, but blog posts are supposed to be pithy. I guess if you would like to know more you can call or e-mail me. Maybe if you keep checking in, a home warranty expert will post a comment. Who knows? What I can tell you now is this: If you have been thinking about buying or selling a home and you contact me and hire me to work for you, telling me you read my blog and you want a free home warranty because of that, I'll buy you one.

As always, if you have found yourself receiving my blog postings via e-mail, it is because I have either blogged about you personally, blogged about something I know is of interest to you, or I consider you to be a person of deep thinking and intellect and I would love to have you occasionally commenting on my blog. If you would like to be removed from the list simply send me an e-mail saying so.

Apr. 7, 2006 - They Just Don't Get It

So you are about to sell your HOUSE. That's right, I said your house. It was your HOME while you lived there doing all the life event things one does in their home, but now that you are about to put it up for sale on the market you need to detach. You can't be objective unless you can see the house for the commodity that it is. Buyers will not pay more for your emotional attachments.

I say all this to help you realize that when you call me to put your house on the market I am going to do a competitive or comparable market analysis (CMA). The CMA will tell us how much you can reasonable expect to get for the house based on what other houses in the area are selling for. The cold hard fact is, just because you raised you five kids there and there are twelve parakeets, two dogs, and fifteen gerbils buried in the back yard does not make it worth $60,000 more than the house just like it across the street. In fact, that above ground pool may well be a detriment.

I recently put a house on the market that was priced $60,000 too high. Why? Because the people that were selling it were past clients of mine. When they said they wanted to test the market for ninety days at THEIR price I hesitantly agreed. I put together a class act feature sheet, virtual tour, just listed post cards and even a talking house. The house was featured on my websites, REALTOR.Com, etc. What followed my $1,000+ marketing program was a hand full of showings, a brokers open and a lot of priced too high feedback, which I shared with them.

Imagine my surprise when a week before the listing was to expire, they informed me that they would not be extending the listing. They were going to call one of the "neighborhood experts". Well a week later the house resurfaces on the MLS priced $60,000 lower. I guess the "neighborhood expert" must have used the same comps I used. After having sold Grandma's Condo for them and finding two of their sons really nice deals on the purchase of their homes (that's right, for emotional purposes, when you are the buyer you are buying a home), you would think that they would have given ME ninety more days at MY price.

What a savage act on their part.